Yesterday I had the privilege of speaking and interviewing the CEO of Transform PR, Michael Terpin, regarding their work on the Munne project in relation to PR. They are the firm that the Munne team has hired for their PR work.
For those of you that are not sure what PR is or what a PR firm does, keep on reading, as I ask that very question in the interview, for your knowledge
Here is what we talked about...
...[snip formalities, personal introductions & small talk before interview]...- What is your Company’s name, and where are you based out of?
“We are Transform PR, based out of Las Vegas with offices in LA, SF, Boston and NYC”
- What exactly does a PR firm do, and how does it affect the Munne Cryptocoin?
“A PR firm represents a company (typically) or individual to help them position themselves within the media and in doing so raises their visibility with the public to help them achieve their goals. Most PR firms specialize in certain industries so they have relationships with the media and knowledge of the best strategies.”
- How long have you been doing PR related work?
“25 years. Not all for Bitcoin of course! In the 1990s we worked with top dot-com companies like America Online, Motley Fool, Match.com. We have also represented a lot of gaming companies, including Konami for more than five years. This past year, we have been focusing on cryptocurrency because we believe it's the future of the internet and business.”
- Can you tell us a little bit about what is ahead for Munne, in regards to Public Relations with your company?
“We are introducing Munne to the crypto, gaming, business and tech communities through a combination of hard news (like being added to Cryptsy), feature stories, company profiles and inclusion in roundup stories (like we just made happen in Bitcoin Magazine). A clear view into the product pipeline, adoption, innovation and other newsworthy elements makes our job easier - reporters are sceptical about new coins because there have been so many pump and dump coins. We only take on coins where we believe there is an underlying value - our coin clients have included Mastercoin, MaidSafe, Swarm, GEMS, Storj and Counterparty - we turned down half a dozen coins we did not believe in.
Munne is a challenge because it is starting from such a small base and we did not start working on it until after the crowd-sale. That just means we have to be more creative to show progress. For example, we got in after the initial burn at Counterparty and concentrated on their hard news like their deal with Overstock and them programming in the capabilities of Ethereum on top of the Bitcoin Blockchain - but crypto media is what will drive the community visibility right now and with it, the coin price.”
- What is your approach, in regards to PR, with the Munne cryptocurrency, and how have these strategies fared in the past?
“Hard news first and foremost is what interests the crypto press, then building that into a narrative around the company - this worked well at all the coins we mentioned above - with Swarm, we built the narrative first because Joel Dietz is a very charismatic spokesperson - we also leveraged the story aspects of MaidSafe working on their technology longer than Satoshi worked on Bitcoin - any tidbits about the team for Munne - working from different places in Latin America on a global currency with educational and gaming hooks – helps.”
- Anything else you would like to add, or tell the Munne community?
“I think the key right now is getting information from the core team to us and then we find the right places to engage with the proper media - all of the successful coins had a unique proposition and a narrative, as well as progress of their development - Munne will be no different and the more we can communicate the progress, the more we can educate and excite the media who matter most in the crypto community. The more your news impacts average Internet users, that also helps to tell the story outside of the crypto media.”[snip closing formalities and thank you's]So there you have it folks! I must admit, it was an absolute pleasure to chat with them, and they seem to be a team of great people and proportions.
I hope I asked most, if not all, of the questions you would have asked and wanted to know. As you can see, with regards to public relations, there is a lot in the works, and once new developments are made, released and others are born, we will see more and more on the front-lines of Public Relations.
Mistercoin--
(Also posted on
Munnetalk)
